Data Sheet

www.dimensionengineering.com/products/Sabertooth2x32
Battery
Sabertooth 2x32 can be used with a variety of battery
types and voltages. When running from a battery that
can be damaged by deep discharge, such as a lithium
polymer or lead acid battery, you should set DIP switch
3 to the battery protect position, which is OFF. When in
this position, the Status LED will blink out the number
of detected cells, followed by a pause, in a repeated
pattern. This is useful to verify that the Sabertooth has
detected the correct number of cells. When the battery
is depleted, the Sabertooth will stop driving the
motors, and the Status and Error LEDs will both blink in sync. When using a battery, please ensure that it
can handle the current draw the motors will supply. Because Sabertooth is a regenerative motor driver
and will return energy to the battery when braking is commanded, only rechargeable batteries are
recommended.
With the DEScribe PC software, you can change what type of battery the Sabertooth is protecting. The
default setting for battery protect is Lithium Polymer. The options for batteries are laid out in the
following table. For each type, you can modify the minimum cell voltage.
Battery Type
Number of series cells in pack
Nominal Voltage
Lithium Polymer or Lithium Ion
2 to 8
7.4V to 29.6V
Lithium FerroPhosphate (LiFePO
4
)
3 to 9
9.9V to 29.7V
Lead Acid
1 to 4 6V
batteries or 1 to 2 12V
6V to 24V
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)
6 to 20
7.2V to 24V
Nickel Cadmium (NiCd)
6 to 20
7.2V to 24V
Custom
1 to 20
-
By default, the number of cells is automatically detected. The Sabertooth assumes the battery is fully
charged when it powers up. With high cell count battery packs that are partially discharged, this can be
inaccurate. If you are not planning to use multiple voltages, you can specify the exact battery that will be
used to avoid this problem.
DIP switch 3 in the OFF position selects
Battery Protect mode